CDB/ILO Symposium

21May2012

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) hosted a regional symposium to discuss economic and labour market recovery responses to the crisis, based on the ILO’s Global Jobs Pact. The symposium was held January 25-26, 2011, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Conference Centre, Barbados, under the theme “Addressing the effects of the global economic crisis on labour markets in the Caribbean and preparing for sustainable and decent employment: the role of the Global Jobs Pact”.

The aim of the Symposium was to discuss the impact of the crisis on labour markets, and examine policies and programmes to stimulate trade, investment and competitiveness while supporting employment growth and social protection measures. The ILO’s Global Jobs Pact was used as the roadmap for promoting a productive recovery centred on the Decent Work Agenda – an Agenda which focuses on employment creation, social protection, social dialogue and respect for rights at work. The Pact was developed in June 2009 by governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations of ILO member States as a global policy instrument to address the social and employment impact of the economic crisis and to prepare for sustained post-crisis recovery.

The Symposium came at a time when most Caribbean countries are reeling from the effects of the global economic crisis. Economic activity in the region declined sharply since the onset of the crisis in 2008, occasioned by a contraction in global demand, falling commodity prices, declining tourism, lower levels of remittances and slow foreign direct investment flows. Overall gross domestic product for the region is estimated to have declined by 1.4 per cent in 2009. With falling economic growth rates came rising unemployment and job losses, especially acute in the largely tourism-dependant Caribbean economies. The crisis has also affected the most vulnerable of the population.